Obama, Xi lay out joint vision for global climate agreement

WASHINGTON, Sept 25 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama
and Chinese President Xi Jinping outlined their common vision
for a global climate change agreement on Friday, and outlined
new steps they will take to deliver on pledges made last year to
slash their greenhouse gas emissions.

Those included confirmation by Xi that China will launch a
national carbon cap-and-trade system in 2017 to help contain the
country's emissions, which will build on seven regional pilot
markets already operation in China. Such systems put limits on
carbon emissions and open up markets for companies to buy and
sell the right to produce emissions.

The joint presidential statement was a highlight of a state
visit to Washington by Xi, as the two leaders tackled difficult
issues such as cyber spying and China's economic
policies.

It built on a bilateral announcement on climate change last
November, when the United States pledged to reduce its
greenhouse gas emissions 26 to 28 percent below 2005 levels by
2025, while China agreed to cap its rising emissions by at least
2030.

The statement aimed to show "the determination of both
countries to act decisively to achieve the goals set last year."

China is already the world's largest carbon emitter, but its
status as a developing country has meant it is under no
obligation to promise carbon cuts, a situation that has irked
U.S. politicians and other industrialized nations.

For Obama, securing a new global agreement on climate change
that erases some of the divisions between industrialized and
emerging economies is a key priority. The deal with China
strengthens his hand ahead of a global summit on climate change
in Paris in December.

China's proposed cap-and-trade system would create the
world's biggest carbon market. Democratic lawmakers tried to
pass legislation to create such a system in the United States
but it failed to win enough votes in a divided Senate in 2010.

China also announced on Friday that it would channel 20
billion RMB ($3.1 billion) to help developing countries combat
and adapt to climate change, a significant financial pledge from
an emerging economy.

For its part, Washington reaffirmed a pledge it made last
year to channel $3 billion into a U.N.-backed Green Climate
Fund. But Congressional wrangling over the federal budget
threatens to delay the implementation of the pledge.

The two countries also agreed on the need for an "enhanced
transparency system" in a United Nations climate agreement to
ensure trust and confidence in the framework to be agreed in
Paris in December.

They also said a new global climate deal should require
countries to "ramp up" their national emission reduction
commitments periodically.
(Editing by Frances Kerry)